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Monthly Archives: September 2014

Jose Mourinho’s mentor Louis van Gaal has had a tough start to life at Manchester United, as he still searching for his first victory despite having played four matches. The Dutchman is still regarded with a lot of respect by Mourinho, who worked with him at several clubs previously before becoming a manager. The two famously came up against each other in the 2010 Champions League final in which the student managed to put one over his teacher. Mourinho is yet to face Van Gaal since the Dutchman came to United.

The Portuguese, though, that he is confident that Van Gaal will be able to turn things around at Old Trafford. Manchester United ended up being as one of the highest spenders of all-time in a transfer window after managing to splash more than £ 150 million on players like Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao. As a result, the squad has been substantially strengthened in several areas of the pitch, although some pundits say that United have brought in more attacking players than defensive minded individuals.

The defence has been a major issue for Van Gaal in the opening two matches, as he has seen his team keep only one clean sheet during this period. Mourinho, who often enjoys good starts, says that Van Gaal is more than experienced to deal with the situation.

“He is one of the best managers in the world so I think he is a man with great experience for the job. Manchester United is a big team [and] he is a big manager so I think they will do well together. It’s a direction we tried to establish since the beginning of last season, but our squad now is different. We have different qualities now in our players. Are we going to lose matches? Obviously, yes, but in this moment we are getting results and we are enjoying our style of play,” said Mourinho.